MGMT 180: Film & Television Marketing and Management
Course Syllabus
Class Time: Tuesday/Thursday 1 pm – 4pm Dates: Room:
Course Instructor: Anderson School of Management, UCLA The Center for MEMES 100 Westwood Plaza, Room B-120 Los Angeles, California 90095
Office and Office Hours: By Appointment
Course Objectives • To understand the key revenue and financial drivers of the movie and television businesses. • To examine the relationship between audiences and movies/television. • To expand knowledge of film/television marketing. • To explore how technological changes are impacting these businesses and the ways in which they must adapt. • To identify companies and careers that students may want to pursue.
Assignments and Evaluation There are three projects for this class. Each project is designed to build your critical thinking about the business of movies and television.
Grading Breakdown: A. Class Participation/Attendance 25% B. Individual Case Write Up 20% C. Film Marketing Project 20% D. Internship Field Project 30% E. Box Office Contests 5%
Required Materials: A course reader will be available to you at the beginning of the term with all reading included.
Film Marketing Project (Individual or Teams of Two) You will select one upcoming film from an approved list. You will be asked to put together a marketing plan for the ways in which this movie can be marketed. This will include identifying the audience, planning a creative strategy, developing a digital strategy and several other key aspects of marketing an individual movie. More details and requirements will be provided. This project is due Tuesday, July 18th to the instructor’s email by the end of class. No exceptions.
Internship Field Project (Group) Each group of students will be assigned to work with an entertainment company that has a specific business problem to solve. Each team will work with a company representative on identifying the problem, obtaining access to data and other information, and a mid-term check- in to update and ask questions. The project will have a written deliverable as well as an in-class presentation.
HBS Case Write-Up (Individual) Over the course of this class, we will be discussing five different Harvard Business School cases. All students will prepare the first case as a practice for writing an individual paper on one of the subsequent 4 cases. Case write-ups must be turned in prior to the respective class session when the case will be discussed.
Everyone in class must read all of the cases and be prepared to participate in a discussion regarding the case’s key issues.
In preparing your write-up, please use the following format: • Opening statement of the problem and your main decision: State the main problem that is the purpose of your analysis, and your main decision. Be very brief and spend no more than 2 sentences on this opening. • Generally, a case will set up the most central decision/problem(s) that need to be addressed. It could pertain to an overall strategy, or a specific action the company is facing. • After stating the main problem, give a high-level statement of your main decision. The rest of your analysis should be used to support your decision. (However, this does not mean your analysis will focus on only the pros in support of your decision; but rather, it should illustrate how after considering all facets of the problem you reached this decision). • Analysis. This is the heart of the report and should be, by far, the longest section. It entails marshaling factual data which supports your problem identification and your recommended course of action. Don't hesitate to use the qualitative and quantitative concepts and tools discussed in class or in the readings, and remember that analysis goes beyond mere repetition of case facts to provide conclusions and implications. ! • Recommendations. State the manner in which each of the problems you have identified should be resolved. In this section, only your recommendations should be discussed and justified; do not introduce new analysis. • Exhibits. Provide exhibits where appropriate to support your recommendations.
Some general guidelines for preparing effective write-ups are: 1. Be concise and to the point. Keep the recommendations sections short, and provide a strong, logical flow in the analysis section. Above all, do not spend time rehashing or paraphrasing the details of the case. 2. Make your assumptions explicit whenever necessary, and defend their reasonableness. 3. The supporting analysis should be thorough, be carried out correctly, and should draw upon material presented in class or assigned in readings, when relevant.
Evaluating in-class contribution - Is the student present, and on time? Class interaction is an important part of learning. - Regular attendance is required. Please let me know in advance if you cannot attend a session. - Does the student participate? For others to learn from your experience, you must participate which means offering your insights. If you do not participate voluntarily, the chance that you may be cold-called increases. - Does the student make quality points? Please be assured that your grade will not be a function solely of the amount of airtime that you consume. Insightful comments backed up by data or other sourced information that advances the class discussion and are well presented is what we seek. In general, how well you respond to questions, how effectively you use the information in the case to support your views, and how effectively you take into account the comments and analyses of your classmates are factors in assessing oral contributions. - When determining the class contribution grade, we will ask the following questions: o Are the points made relevant to the class discussion? o Did the comments add to our understanding of the situation? o Do comments show an understanding of theories, concepts, and analytical devices presented in class lectures or reading materials? o Were the concepts presented in a concise and convincing fashion? o Can the participant back up a point with financial or other projections?
Guest Speakers We will host a number of prominent guest speakers; they are executives with incredibly busy schedules. When guest speakers are present, we expect all students to be in attendance; all laptops must be closed; no hounding guests for job requests or personal favors. If you want to contact a guest after the class, please work through the instructor for contact information.
Assignment Policy Guidelines All projects must be delivered on their due dates. Late work and missed presentations will receive a zero. Honesty in all academic work is expected of every student.
2016 – 2017 SYLLABUS
Class 1: Introduction and Film Overview (6/28/17) • Review class syllabus, assignments, student introductions • Group projects • Brief history of the film business • Who’s who/what’s what in the film business
Reading: MPAA 2016 Theatrical Statistics
Assignment prior to the first day of class: Please read and review the MPAA statistics Please also complete the survey linked here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mgmt180
Class 2: Film Economics (6/30/17) • Understanding the Economics of a Film Studio • Understanding the Economics of a Single Film • Film Distribution and Windowing * Case: NBC Universal NBC Universal CEO Stephen Burke must choose which company projects will be included in 2015’s “Project Symphony,” guaranteeing the chosen projects a high level of visibility and support across the media conglomerate's broadcast and cable television, film, and theme park divisions.
Come prepared to discuss this case; our class discussion will illustrate how your assigned case write-ups should work. This case may not be used to fulfill the case study write-up requirement.
Guest Speaker: Paul Shurgot, CFO, The Walt Disney Studios
Reading: Fithian-CinemaCon-Speech “How Netflix Became Hollywood’s Frenemy” (Fortune) “Movie Business Scrambles to Adapt to Changing Consumer Demand” “Should Theaters Really Worry About the Push for PVOD?” (Deadline.com)
Class 3: Film Marketing: Part 1 (7/6/17) • Essentials of Film Marketing • Key film marketing tactics/creative strategy • Film Distribution • Movie research
Reading: “Disney’s Savvy Marketing of The Jungle Book” (NYTimes) “How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever” (AMA Marketing News)
Guest Speaker: Leonard Dick, Executive Producer, The Good Wife
Class 4: Film Marketing: Part 2 (7/7/17) (Friday class) • How Studio Marketing Ensures Box Office Success • How Studios Utilize Corporate Assets To Market Tentpoles • What Happens When a Movie Doesn’t Work Creatively or Financially
Guest Speaker: Nathan Davis, Manager, Cinema Partnerships, Walt Disney Studios
Class 5: Film Creative and Introduction to Television (7/11/17) – CLASS START TIME 12:00PM. LUNCH TO BE PROVIDED. • How Film Development Works • What Talent Agencies Offer • Evaluating Scripts and Projects • Case: The Walt Disney Studios In December 2015, Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, celebrates the world premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - only the latest in a string of big bets that he has overseen. Disney pursues a 'tentpole strategy' that revolves around at least eight big-budget movies each year -- most from its acquired labels Pixar, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm. In fact, Disney produces nearly twice as many tentpole movies as any other major Hollywood film studio, but fewer movies overall than all but one of its rivals. Box-office failures can be extremely costly, since Disney (unlike its rivals) chooses not to enlist the help of financing partners. Is Disney Studios pursuing the right number of tentpoles as well as the right mix of new versus existing properties, under the right financing structure? And will the tentpole strategy pay off-in the short and long run? • Brief history of the TV business • State of TV today in a digitally-disturbed world • Paid advertising vs. subscription • How TV is measured: ratings, views and subscribers
Evening Field Trip to Netflix TV Taping (4 pm)
Class 6: Television Overview (7/13/17) • How TV is measured: ratings, views and subscribers • How Broadcast networks are adjusting to their new reality
Reading: “The Business of Too Much TV” (Vulture) “Netflix is Now More Popular Than Cable TV” (Business Insider) “Four Years After House of Cards, Netflix Members Elect Their Own TV Schedules”
Guest Benoit Landry, Senior Director, Program Research at NBCUniversal, Inc. Speakers: Jack Pan, Marketing Consultant, 20th Century Fox Films and Former President of Motion Picture Marketing at STX Films
Class 7: Television Economics (7/18/17) • Understanding the Economics of the Television Industry • Understanding the Economics of an Individual Television Show • Cable Networks • Case Study: Comcast Corporation HBO’s announcement of their stand-alone streaming service HBO Go in March 2015 was a wake- up call for Comcast, the country’s largest cable provider. This development would allow customers to bypass the cable companies and get direct access to HBO online. What did this mean for Comcast’s future?
Guest Speaker: Ken Basin, Vice President, Business Affairs, Sony Pictures Television
Reading: “HBO to Netflix” (Fast Company) “Hulu Bets on Ambitious Slate to Catch Up to Competition” (Variety) “ESPN’s Folly” (FreeCast) PWC Videoquake 4.0 The Road to a la Carte Television (FreeCast)
Evening Field Trip to Sony Studios for Screening (5pm)
Class 8: Television Creative (7/20/17) • How Television Gets Created • How Increased Competition is Changing the TV Landscape • Case: Shonda Rhimes’ ShondaLand This case raises the question of scale. How does an individual writer or producer grow her successful television business?
Guest Speaker: Tara Grace, Senior Vice President, HBO Films Reading: Netflix’ original Content Strategy Broken Along with the Rest of Business (Forbes)
Class 9: Television Marketing (7/25/17) • Essentials of TV Marketing Basic • Digital Marketing for Television Shows
Guest Speaker: Howard Schneider, SVP Marketing Administration and Operations, The CW Television Network
Class 10: Film & Television: Global Marketplace (7/27/17) • Importance of International Growth • Impediments to Global Domination • Case Study: Legendary Entertainment: Moneyball for Motion Pictures Legendary, the Hollywood studio responsible for such hits as Jurassic World and The Dark Knight, decides to take the marketing of its films in-house, and to market them fan-by-fan. Owner Thomas Tull acquires the big-data-in-sports firm started by Matt Marolda and appoints him to run marketing analytics for Legendary. The methods perform well in the motion picture market. Other Hollywood studios want to lease its services, and firms outside of entertainment express interest. Marolda and Tull consider setting up Legendary Analytics as an independent consulting business. At that point Dalian Wanda, China's largest entertainment and real estate conglomerate, buys Legendary. Should Marolda focus on China or the diversified U.S. market?
Guest Speaker: Rick Ambros, Partner, Lightsource Asia Media Group and Former COO, Perfect Storm Entertainment
Class 11: Film & Television: How Digital Has Changed the Landscape (8/1/17) • The impact of Netflix, Hulu, Roku, etc. • How Audiences Consume Content Today
Guest Speaker: Barry Blumberg, Chief Content Officer, Defy Media; Founder/Creator, SMOSH
Reading: “Meet YouTube’s View Master” (Time Magazine) With 40 New Original Shows, YouTube Targets TV’s Breadbasket (Bloomberg)
Class 12: Final Class: That’s All Folks (8/3/17) • Final thoughts • Group presentations